


The Silver Fox

by Lee_writes_fanfic



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Assassin Tony Stark, Avengers Tower, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt Tony Stark, Italian Tony Stark, Kidnapping, M/M, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Not Canon Compliant, Not Captain America: The Winter Soldier Compliant, POV Alternating, POV Tony Stark, Post-Avengers (2012)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:26:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24117211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lee_writes_fanfic/pseuds/Lee_writes_fanfic
Summary: The public knew Tony Stark as many things. An assassin was not one of them.Or, Tony is an assassin and his teammates eventually find out.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Comments: 27
Kudos: 455
Collections: Waiting for updates





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on here and I decided to go for a more uncommon trope! Assassin Tony AU
> 
> The translations are just after the underlined words in brackets.

The public knew Tony Stark as many things. An assassin was not one of them. However he was an assassin and a spy, though no one alive outside of the guild where he had been trained knew that. Not even Rhodey or Pepper, and he told them everything.

See, when Tony was four, his mother had had enough of the way Howard abused and neglected her son. So she sent Tony to the assassin’s guild in Italy where she had been trained years ago, la Lega delle Ombre [the League of Shadows], although she didn’t use those skills much anymore.

The only other person who knew that Tony wasn’t actually at boarding school was Howard, and Maria made sure he wouldn’t tell anyone.

Over the years, Tony had been trained in many forms of combat, learned to read, write, and speak multiple languages including Italian, English, and Russian, and was also taught all of the skills he would need to be a spy. Thinking back on it years later, his skill set was probably similar to Natalia’s. Or Natasha, as most people knew her.

During one of his missions, shortly after completing his training at twenty-one, Tony met Yasha, or the Winter Soldier. Tony had already made a name for himself as la Volpe d’Argento, or the Silver Fox, by then.

Tony and Winter had both been sent to assassinate the same politician. They had another few chance encounters before Tony learned about Winter’s trigger words, and Tony had developed a new set of words that reversed the effects of HYDRA by their next meeting.

Well, the words’ effects lasted until HYDRA got their own words into Yasha’s mind again, but all Tony had to do was repeat them and Yasha’s memories would come flooding back. So the two became friends, of sorts, and knew almost everything about each other, though they hadn’t seen each other in years. That was because Tony had mostly retired from being la Volpe, though he did take assignments now and then.

Now, Tony Stark was known as the genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist ex-CEO of Stark Industries who once flew into a wormhole in New York and saved the world. He had practically left his old life behind, and had made peace (somewhat) with the fact that he would probably never see Yasha again.

Which is why it came as a welcome surprise when Steve Rogers brought his childhood best friend back from the dead and with him, Tony found Yasha.

————————————

The team was lounging on the communal floor when Steve came back from- wherever he had gone- with a hooded stranger.

Bruce was asleep on a chair in the corner, while Natasha and Clint were flicking through TV channels from the couch and Tony was just returning from the kitchen. (Thor was dealing with something off-world, but he should be back soon.)

Steve stepped out of the elevator, partially obscuring the mysterious man behind them, but Tony could tell the man was looking down with his long hair hanging in front of his face. That long hair reminded him of- nope, not thinking about him.

“So, I know this is kind of sudden,” Steve said, unusually shy, “But this is Bucky, Bucky Barnes, and I can answer your questions later but he needs a place to stay and I was wondering if he could stay here in the Tower?” He moved out of the way and Bucky stepped forward, head still down with his hands in his pockets.

Tony was trying not to get stuck in the past, but Bucky looked so much like him…“Sure thing, Cap,” Tony said. Bucky snapped his head up at Tony’s voice and Tony realized he was not imagining how similar Bucky looked to his Yasha, because he was Yasha. If Tony had been even slightly less skilled at hiding his emotions, he would’ve looked overjoyed yet surprised.

That asshole never said he was Bucky Barnes! Tony thought, mentally chiding himself for not recognizing him from Howard’s pictures on all their missions.

Suddenly Nat stood up and said,“You’re the Winter Soldier.” She had her hand resting on her hip and to most others it would look casual, but Tony knew she had a gun hidden there.

“I’m not the Winter soldier anymore, I’m just Bucky,” he spoke for the first time and, although it had been too many years since he last saw him, Tony still recognized Yasha’s voice. “HYDRA kept me alive with super soldier serum and cryogenically freezing when they didn’t need me. I started getting memories back and found Stevie running, so I followed him back here.”

As Bucky explained, Tony hoped he also came to the Tower because he remembered his Antoshka, and couldn’t wait to find out.

“How about I get you set up with some rooms, and then we can come back up here and watch movies, or something. You’ve got a lot to catch up on!” Tony interjected before turning to the elevator.

“Sure, Tony.” Bucky replied easily. “Stevie, don’t worry, I’m not going to disappear.” Steve nodded jerkily, not wanting to let his best friend out of his sight so soon after finding him, but trusting Tony.

As soon as the two were alone, Tony turned to Bucky. He hadn’t shown signs of remembering, but neither had Tony.

“Yasha? вы помните меня?” [You remember me?] Tony asked him hesitantly, switching to Russian.

“Я помню только некоторые вещи, но я помню тебя, Antoshka,” [I only remember some things, but I remember you] Bucky replied with a small smile. “I still don’t have all my memories back, though.”

“I can fix that,” Tony listed off the Russian words he still knew by heart.

“Thanks, котенок,”

Glaring at him, Tony wished Yasha -no,Bucky- could’ve forgotten that one little nickname. Bucky seemed to know what he was thinking and pulled him closer. “Oh, doll, I call you that because you are precious and adorable, but you still have sharp claws like a kitten. It’s a compliment!” Tony pouted, knowing it made him even cuter and using it to his advantage.

Suddenly Tony grinned. “Can I make you a new arm?” He pleaded, using his puppy eyes that hadn't failed him yet.

“Yes, I know you’ve wanted to make me a new one since we met, because it’s ‘a monstrosity and an insult to all modern technology,’” Bucky quoted with a long-suffering sigh.

“And what a coincidence, we’ve just arrived at my lab!” Tony said as the elevator doors opened, spreading his arms to present his workshop. Bucky mouth dropped open. He had never seen so much tech in one place before. “Follow me!” Tony said, leading them to a table in the back.

“I- wow. That’s… wow.”

Pushing him gently into a chair, Tony muttered, “I’m just going to run some scans now, we should hurry up so I can show you your floor.”

“Wow, you’re rich. You coulda had all this, but no, you wanted to assassinate people with the Winter Soldier,” Bucky joked, still in awe of the place.

“Oh, that reminds me, the others… well, no one else knows about how I, you know, used to spy on and assassinate people with the Winter Soldier. So we shouldn’t really know each other in front of the others.” Tony confessed. “Also, we knew each other for over ten years and you didn’t tell me you were James Barnes?!”

Bucky grinned sheepishly. “I honestly didn’t know I was that big of a deal, and it’s not like you told me you were Tony Stark!”

“Okay, fair point, but still. Not cool.” Tony retorted as he shut down the new blueprints for a prosthetic arm. “Now, let’s go see your new rooms!” Tony smirked. He was going to have fun introducing Bucky to everything he had missed in the past seventy years.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's team finds out a little more about him after he gets hurt during a mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the Italian here I looked up, so if anything is wrong please tell me!

It was almost two months later when Tony got the call.

He wasn’t expecting it considering _La Volpe_ hardly took assignments anymore, but it was just a mission for intel, so why not take it? _Il Capo delle Ombre_ [the Leader of Shadows], Luciano Bianca, was in charge of the Shadows, as they called themselves. He had needed the Fox back for a short time while other Shadows were busy.

Before leaving, he told the Avengers that he had business in Japan he needed to attend to, but he told Bucky the truth. (He could never lie to Yasha anyway). He would be gone for five days, spending them in a hotel closer to where he would be going. Tony was actually going to a gala in Connecticut (about twenty-five minutes away) that was being hosted by the leader of a smuggling ring, Caine Thornhill. He was to be posing as an Italian ambassador using a nano mask and making sure the arc reactor was covered. It was simple: he would get in, slip away later to get the info, and get out. Easy as pi.

————————————

It was _not_ easy as pi.

Tony easily got in through the front door, but noticed there were more guards than he was told there would be. He barely managed to slip away and make it to Thornhill’s private chambers without getting caught. (Not to brag, but someone less skilled than him couldn’t have done that).

Once he found the computer, it was effortless to download the files he needed and wipe it. And of course, he left his mark. His signature fake orange leaf tipped with silver.

But the problem was getting out. Tony heard footsteps down the hall, so he made a split-second decision and swung out of the window. Not his best decision. He was on the second story, so it wasn’t too bad, but he knew anyone outside would hear him if he dropped to the ground. So, carefully, he scaled down the building and landed lightly behind some shrubbery.

Heading towards the back of the property under the cover of darkness, Tony stepped around a tree as he saw even more guards walking along the perimeter toward him though they were still far away. Making another quick decision, he pulled himself onto a branch of the tree and climbed up a little ways, until he was over the electric fence. Not stopping to calculate the distance as he noticed the guards were within hearing distance, he leapt.

Landing in a crouch on the other side of the fence, Tony took a moment to catch his breath. And as he stood up, a shot rang out.

Gasping, he looked down and noticed a dark red seeping through his jacket over his lower torso where his head had just been. Limping as quickly as he could over to his “getaway car”, he fell into the backseat and Dakota, a trusted driver for Shadows, sped away.

“To the Tower,” Tony grunted, peeling off the nano mask.

“Are you sure? I should be bringing you to the hotel…”

“Sí, sí, the Tower!” [Yes, yes,] he slipped into Italian as he tried to staunch the blood flow as best he could. “Piú veloce!” [Faster!].

They might have broken a few speed limits, but reached the Tower in record time: only fifteen minutes. Probably. Tony wasn’t really paying attention as he stumbled into the elevator from his garage.

“Jarv, take me to… portami da Yasha,” [take me to] he said, leaning heavily on the side of the elevator. He didn’t stop to think that there would probably be other people with him, but he honestly was starting to feel faint and just wanted someone he knew.

Tony fell out of the elevator into Bucky’s arms, with shouts of “Tony?!” from the rest of the team.

“Dì loro tutto tranne la verità,” [Tell them anything except the truth,] was the last thing he said before letting himself pass out, knowing he was safe with Yasha.

————————————

Bucky looked down at Tony laying in his arms. When JARVIS told them that Tony was injured and coming up the elevator, he hadn’t quite expected _this_.

Looking up he noticed the confused and panicked looks the others, including Natasha, were giving Tony, so he told them, “Tony said he came home early from his business trip and got shot just before entering the building.” Bucky knew he had to be calm for the rest of them so he gently picked up Tony and asked Bruce where to bring him.

“JARVIS, call Dr. Cho and have her come to the Tower. Bucky, bring him into the elevator and J will take us where we need to go,” Bruce said, recovering some sense of rationality. Bucky did as he was told, Natasha following them into the elevator.

“I contacted Dr. Cho as soon as Sir entered the building. I’m bringing you to her now on floor 17,” the AI said as the elevator doors closed on the still shocked faces of the others.

The three, well, the four of them reached floor 17 in seconds and were met by Helen Cho and a few other nurses. Bucky repeated the lie he had told the rest of the team and Tony was brought in a room for surgery. Minutes later, Steve, Clint and Thor joined Bruce, Natasha and Bucky in a tense silence outside Tony’s room on the hospital level. It was easier for everyone to come here after a battle than it would be if they went to a public one, so they had rooms and hospital equipment installed.

No one spoke as they waited to see Tony.

————————————

A few hours after the bullet had been removed and Tony wrapped in bandages, he woke up in a cramped hospital room with the whole team.

“Cos'è successo?” [What happened?] he asked hoarsely, not realizing he spoke in Italian. Opening his eyes he saw a blinding light and shut them again tightly.

Bucky was the only one to answer him, in English . “You came in, with a shot wound in your stomach, and said you had been shot outside after coming home early from your trip. Jarvis, dim the lights please?” he added as he noticed Tony squinting.

“Scusate ragazzi. Ma ora sto bene, vedi?” [Sorry guys. But now I'm fine, see?] Tony replied, still in his first language. Looking around and seeing blank and confused faces, he winced as he realized he wasn’t speaking English. In a mild Italian accent, he clarified, “I am fine now, guys.”

After a few moments of heavy silence, Clint broke it by joking, “So where were we when you became Italian?”

“You weren’t even born yet, Katniss,” Tony retorted, smiling weakly. “My mom taught me before I went off to school and it’s easier than English to me, so I kind of revert back to it when I’m particularly tired. And this is my real accent, not an American one.”

It was partially true- Maria had taught him a bit of Italian before he actually went to Italy, but the rest he learned there. But the only person who knew he grew up in Italy was Rhodey, and he didn’t know the extent of Tony’s education. The rest of the team didn’t need to know that, especially Nat or Clint, because they would get suspicious. And he did not want that.

After that, the group started talking and Tony learned that in the few days he had been “on a business trip”, Clint had beaten his high score on Mario Kart. Tony vowed to take back the crown as soon as he was out of this hospital bed. And yes, they actually had a small plastic tiara they used as a trophy of sorts.

Natasha, he noticed, was the only one hanging back and not joining the conversation. Although she did tend to be a quiet person, Tony would ask her about it later. Again, as soon as he got out of this damn hospital bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finds out what some of his teammates think of la Volpe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The POV shifts should be obvious, but it starts with Natasha, then Tony, and ends with Natasha. There will also be more Bucky/Tony in the next chapter!

Natasha was fine with Tony being able to speak Italian. She knew first-hand how useful it was to be able to understand and speak multiple languages, as she knew many languages, though Italian was not one of them.

What she was _not_ fine with was the fact that she hadn't known about it.

Natasha prided herself on knowing a lot about a person just from meeting them, and she would know almost everything about a person if she just spent a bit more time with them. Tony Stark was one of the few exceptions.

He had layers of masks he put on in public, but she thought she and the team had gotten past those. Apparently there were lies buried in those masks as well.

He was also exceptionally hard to read, especially for a civilian, but that was probably Howard’s doing. _The bastard_. And it annoyed her to no end.

There were more things she didn’t know about Tony Stark, but she was going to find out.

————One week later————

Tony yawned as he walked into the communal kitchen. Heading straight to the coffee machine, he grabbed a mug and filled it, not tuning in to the conversation in the room until after he drank some of the heavenly liquid.

“And he’s _still_ in the paper, even two weeks later. That’s how important this guy is.” Clint said.

“It might just be that he hasn’t been heard from in years. Some people thought he was dead,” Natasha chimed in. Looking around for the first time that morning, he saw Natasha and Clint at a table with a newspaper and Thor standing nearby.

“Sorry, who are we talking about here?” Tony asked, looking between the two spies.

“Friend Anthony! You are up!”

“Still a bit sore, but yeah,” he replied. This was the first time Dr. Cho had let him out of bed. After a _whole week_.

“ _La Volpe_ ,” Clint said in a hushed voice. “You know, the Silver Fox?”

“Wait, he’s back? That’s the same guy who made the papers all those years ago!” Tony exclaimed, acting surprised. He knew he looked genuinely surprised, and no one could tell he was faking it. He secretly wanted to know what his teammates thought of him. Not that they knew it was him, but that’s not the point.

“Who is this Silver Fox you speak of?” Thor was still confused.

“You don’t know who la Volpe is?! Wait, of course you don’t, you’ve been on Asgard,” Clint answered his own question, still saying ‘la Volpe’ in a low voice.

“Clint, why are you saying his name with so much… reverence?” Tony asked, masking his genuine curiosity with a puzzled look.

“Because he’s like, the greatest operative ever! Yes, including me,” Clint bragged, before he yelped in pain. “Nat! And sure, he’s also an assassin, but aren’t we all? All of us agents, I mean,” he added at Tony’s raised brow.

“And his kills were usually rich douchebags doing something illegal with their money,” Tony pointed out. “I should know. They’re the same kind of people Obie used to hang out with for fun,” he rolled his eyes as he said that. He would also know because he was the one to find out what questionably legal items they were buying or dealing so he could take them out.

Which reminded him, he _still_ hadn’t checked in with Luciano about the mission. _Shit_. He’d have to do that as soon as he was alone.

Natasha, who had been a ghost in the conversation until now, joined in with a solemn, “I’d say the Fox is even better than the Winter Soldier, maybe even better than me,” After internally preening at being told he was better than the Winter Soldier, Tony’s jaw literally dropped when Natasha said he was better than _the_ Black Widow. He knew she didn’t mean it in an egotistical way, she just understood how good of a fighter she was.

“Better than you?!” Tony asked with genuine surprise in his voice.

“Who’s better than Natasha?” Steve panted as he walked in the room, having just come in from a run. “It’s definitely not Clint,” he joked with a smirk at Clint’s affronted look.

Turning to address Steve, Natasha said “The assassin known as the Silver Fox. Also a spy. No one knows much about him other than he was active from the ‘90’s to the mid-2000’s, and he recently struck again. No casualties, and he wasn’t spotted once.”

“Who does he work for?” Steve asked, grabbing a cup of coffee and leaning on the wall next to Tony.

In a low voice, Clint said, “No one knows. The only reason people even know he’s Italian is because he signed his fifth kill with ‘la Volpe d’Argento’ and this mark,” Clint turned around his newspaper to show Tony’s signature mark.

Tony snorted quietly. “You’re more of a grandpa than Steve is, Barton, even he uses a Starkpad for the news,”

“Oh, shut up,” Clint grumbled. Knowing him, he was planning to move all of Tony’s coffee to the higher shelves where he couldn’t reach, because that was what he always did when Tony annoyed him.

“Well, this Fox you speak of sounds like a noble warrior!” Thor boomed predictably. He thinks everyone is a noble warrior as long as they’re against bad guys.

“No, Thor, this guy is an assassin! I read about him when I was catching up, and while he may have… killed some bad people, there are better ways to fight evil.” Steve ranted before marching out of the room, past Bruce and Yasha.

Bruce just got himself some coffee and left, mumbling equations to himself. Bucky looked back at where Steve had just stormed off, confused.

“What did you do to him,” Bucky sighed, looking at Tony out of everyone in the room.

“Nothing! I swear!” Tony replied, smirking as he continued, “Inoltre, Natasha afferma che la Volpe è più forte del Winter Soldier,” [Additionally, Natasha claims that the Fox is stronger than the Winter Soldier].

“Probabilmente è più forte di me. Ma non lasciarti trasportare,” [He's probably stronger than me. But don't let it get to your head.] Bucky warned him.

“If it’s any consolation, she also said the Fox was better than her,”

Turning to Natasha, Bucky said, “You and me. Sparring. Right after breakfast.”

“You think you can beat me, _Snowflake_?”

“You told her about that nickname?!” This was directed at Tony who, laughing as he glanced at his watch, backed out of the room.

“Got work to do now. But tell Jarvis when you two are sparring so I can watch Nat kick your ass,” Tony called as the elevator doors slid shut. Then he totally didn’t squeal as he remembered that the Black Widow herself said that he was better than even her. And Yasha. Tony was going to hold this over his head for ages.

He would spar with Yasha lster, after the deadly duo were done in the training rooms, just to prove it.

————————————

Natasha headed down to one of the training rooms so she could stretch before crushing James. But before she started her routine, she pulled out a small recording device from her pocket.

“Jarvis, can you translate this for me?” she asked the AI, and played Tony and James’ short Italian conversation.

“Certainly, Ms. Romanoff,” Jarvis replied, and told her what the boys had said. After hearing the translation, she was confused about what James had said last. Was Tony-? No, of course he wasn’t! Where did she even get that idea. She’d know if he was la Volpe.

James probably just didn’t want Tony to think less of James, or something like that. The two must have become closer in the last couple months than she realized.

Shaking her head, she began her workout routine and got ready to spar with James.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint thinks something is up, and so does Natasha.
> 
> Clint & Natasha and a little Bucky/Tony!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter but I'll post chapter five later today also.

Clint’s POV

After Natasha left the kitchen Clint decided to explore the vents some more. Maybe he’d go see what Tony was doing in his workshop! Yeah, he could jump out of the vents and scare the genius as payback for his earlier comment. In addition, of course, to moving all the coffee onto a high shelf to watch the shorter man struggle.

With a quick “bye!”, Clint left a startled Bucky and Thor in the room as he climbed into the ceiling.

He eventually found his way down to the workshop and caught the end of a video call Tony was on.

“Thank you for the report, Shadow. We’ll send you the information as soon as we can. Be ready,” Clint heard an unfamiliar voice say with an Italian accent, stronger than Tony’s.

“Aye aye, Captain,” Tony replied with a grin in his voice. Moving closer Clint saw a dark haired man in a suit shaking his head fondly at Tony from a hologram.

“Until next time, piccolo,” [little one] the man said, grinning back.

“Sí, it was fun catching up. Until next time, Luce,” [yes,] Tony replied, sounding sad, but Clint could only see the back of his head as he hung up and got back to work.

Clint backed up a few feet in the vents. Who was ‘Luce’? And why did he call Tony ‘Shadow’? And what information was he giving Tony? Deciding not to jump down and scare Tony, he went to his floor and jumped out.

He figured the only person who might have some answers would be Natasha. He’d ask her after she beat up Bucky, and probably Steve too, during training.

————————————

  
Natasha’s POV

“I yield,” James grunted from beneath her, again. She had already beaten him and Steve five times. Each.

Natasha stood up and grabbed water bottles and energy bars for the three of them. While she was strong and fast, besting two super soldiers in hand-to-hand combat five times in a row was tiring.

Glancing at a clock on the wall, she realized it was already past three o’clock.

“I think I’m done for today, boys. But feel free to spar with me again whenever your egos need to be taken down a peg or two,” she offered before leaving to head up to her floor.

Once in the elevator, she had JARVIS tell Tony that they were going out for dinner and drinks in a few hours.

Natasha had no romantic interest in him, she just wanted answers and didn’t want him running away from the conversation.

After yoga, a shower, and relaxing for a while, it was nearing five o’clock. Natasha changed into a nicer blouse and slacks before opening her bedroom door on CLint, who had his hand poised to knock.

“Oh! I wanted to ask you about- what are you wearing?” Clint cut off abruptly as he noticed Natasha’s outfit.

“I’m wearing clothes,” she replied dryly. “What were you going to ask me?”

“I meant why are you wearing _nice_ clothes. I mean fancy clothes! Not that your clothes aren’t always nice! Anyway I was going to ask you about Tony.”

“What about Tony?” she rolled her eyes, exasperated. _Get to the point already_.

“I don’t know… earlier I overheard him talking to a guy who called him ‘Shadow’ and was going to give him some information. I’m probably just imagining things…” Clint sighed and looked at the ground, but Natasha stood up straighter.

“You’re not imagining anything,” she assured him. “At least, I don’t think so. I’m going out with him in a few minutes to ask him about it, and I’ll tell you what I find out when I get back in a few hours.”

She brushed past him and walked to the elevator, Clint following her.

“Thanks, ‘Tasha!” he said, and they went up to the communal floor.

————————————

Tony’s POV

Meanwhile, Tony was just throwing on a nice shirt and pants without grease stains on them. Rushing out of his bedroom, he almost ran into Bucky.

“Hey, snowflake, what are you doing here!” Tony exclaimed, always happy to see Yasha but also running late.

Bucky’s hopeful expression became more subdued as he noticed Tony’s formal outfit. “Where are you going?” He asked instead of answering the question.

“Out with Nat. It’s not a date, though,” Tony didn’t know why he added that. Maybe he was hoping Yasha didn’t want it to be a date? But that was stupid, Yasha wouldn’t-

Tony’s trail of thought was cut off when Bucky blurted out, “Oh, that’s good, because I was wondering if youwouldgooutwithme? Not tonight, obviously, but some other time?”

Tony just blinked at the now-blushing man, who was nervously tugging strands of his hair with a shiny new metal arm. Bucky seemed to take Tony’s silence for a ‘no’ and began to walk away.

“Nevermind, it was stupid to think…” he mumbled, but stopped when Tony grabbed his arm and replied.

“I- of course, I’d love to go on a date with you!” Yasha’s smile was blinding, and Tony had a feeling his was the same.

He was jerked out of the moment when he checked his watch. Cursing, he said, “But I was supposed to be downstairs five minutes ago!” Kissing Bucky on his cheek and grabbing his coat and shoes, Tony rushed into the elevator, only calling a “See you later, Snowflake!” Before leaving Bucky, now blushing even more, in the penthouse.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Natasha talk. It doesn't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos and comments!!

Natasha was silent for the entire drive to an Italian-run restaurant about twenty minutes away, and it put Tony on edge. It seemed like she was planning something and he didn't know what.

They arrived and were ushered to a table near the front. They talked idly about things like the prank war, the Mario Kart championship, and ways to prank Clint all before ordering dinner. Tony saw no reason to pretend _not_ to speak Italian, so he didn't.

After ordering (in Italian) Tony turned back to Natasha, who is now watching him with sharper eyes.

“So, where did you learn Italian again?” she asked, and Tony knew they had finally reached why she invited him here.

“My mother taught me before I went off to boarding school. I picked it up quickly, before I learned English, so English is actually my second language,” he said, giving away no signs of lying.

Natasha merely hummed in acknowledgement and said nothing until their food arrived.

“Clint told me that he heard you talking to someone earlier who called you ‘Shadow’. What does _that_ mean?”

Tony winced inwardly. That was going to be a little harder to explain. That damn bird was crawling in the vents again and heard something he shouldn't have.

But before he could think of a believable lie to tell Natasha, an explosion rang out towards the front of the building.

Both Avengers ran to the reception area where the explosion had been, Tony tapping his wristwatch and Natasha pulling out a gun.

Looking around, no one had been hurt, but the glass formerly in the windows was now shattered on the ground inside the lobby. The people who had been in the room had fleed into the restaurant and were unscathed (thankfully) but for a little shock.

Just as Tony lowered his gauntlet and Natasha’s gun disappeared as fast as it had appeared, he felt a sting on the side of his neck and, looking over, he saw a dart sticking out of Natasha's neck as well.

The last thing he saw was two men wearing masks rushing towards him and Natasha, who was falling to the ground, before darkness overcame him.

————————————

Bucky’s POV

Bucky called Tony for the fifth time and for the fifth time there was no answer. _Where was he?_ Checking the time Bucky realized it was already past midnight.

Deciding to go ask Birdman, or whatever his name was, where Tony and Natalia could be, he asked JARVIS to tell the bird to meet him at the communal floor.

Clint was already in the room by the time Bucky got there.

“How- nevermind, I don’t want to know. Did Natalia tell you she was going to stay out late with Tony?”

“No, she said she’d be back in a few hours,” Clint said. “She’s not back?”

“Neither of them are, and I’m worried,” Bucky confessed.

“JARVIS, do you know where Tony is?” Clint asked the AI, and Bucky mentally face-palmed. How had he not thought of that?

“Sir was at the restaurant at 8:30. That is the last known location I have of him.”

What? That didn’t make sense. “Can’t you track Tony’s phone?” Bucky pleaded.

“The tracker was disabled before Sir left the restaurant.” What did he mean, the tracker was disabled? By who? They couldn’t have been kidnapped…

But as he looked at Clint, Bucky saw the same realization dawn on him.

“We should call the team,” Bucky said, and Clint simply nodded. Bucky knew Natalia could take care of herself, as could Antoshka, but for them to have been kidnapped, these people were good.

Bucky set aside his worries to focus on finding the two assassins as quickly as possible. They would find them. They would be alright. They had to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shorter chapter, but the next one will be longer (I think). Also, cliffhanger!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Natasha have been kidnapped, and Tony's not sure if he can come out of this with his secret still intact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit longer to make up for the last shorter chapter.

Tony’s POV

Tony groaned as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around. The room was small and barren, all concrete with no windows and a single metal door. So he was tied to a metal chair in a basement of some sort, and he had no idea how much time had passed since… What was his last mission? No, mission didn’t sound right… The restaurant! But where was Natasha?

Looking around again, more frantically, he noticed she was in the corner opposite him, also tied to a chair and still unconscious. He could have rolled his eyes at how he missed her sitting there but had more important things to worry about. Like the door that was now opening.

“What do you want? Weapons? Money?” Tony snarled at the man who walked in. He was wearing a crisp charcoal suit, with neat golden hair, unlike the grimy room they were in. He was also accompanied by a guard with two Glocks, Tony noted.

“I don’t actually want _you_ , Mr. Stark, but I’m sure you will be useful as well. We want the Black Widow.” The man said, and Tony smirked. He obviously didn’t know who he was dealing with. The Black Widow alone would be able to escape from this, and now she had la Volpe d’Argento to help her, if she needed it.

“Whatever you want from her, she’s not going to give it to you,” Tony pointed out. “She’s the Black Widow.”

“Oh, we’ll get what we want,” and with those mysterious words the man left, shutting the door behind him before Tony could get a good look through the doorway.

He pulled on the ropes tying his wrists together behind his back. They held, and Tony noticed that his watch was gone. Of course they took the watch. He had hoped he could get through this _without_ anyone finding out his identity, but he would have to at least tell Natasha if she didn’t wake up soon, and with a plan.

“Natasha!” He yelled across the room. “Nat! Wake up!” A few moments later, she blearily opened her eyes and looked up.

“Oh thank god,” Tony sighed in relief, and let her have a minute for their situation to sink in.

As soon as Natasha showed signs of remembering what happened, she started to tap, but stopped and asked Tony, “Do you know anything about why we are here, and where _here_ is?”

Instead of speaking, Tony started tapping with his nail (as she had) on the metal of the chair near his hand. _Don’t know where. Guards have guns. Can you get out?_ And her expression was priceless. Unfortunately, Tony couldn’t record it.

It was a few seconds before she answered, but still wide-eyed she tapped out _No. Only one more knife. Can’t reach._

 _Just a minute._ Tony replied as he worked a knife out of a strap up his sleeve. They hadn’t thought to search him.

A few minutes later he had cut himself free but kept his arms behind his back, having noticed a camera in the corner of the room. He tapped out _I’m free_ to Natasha before throwing the small knife into the center of the camera with deadly accuracy.

Leaping to his feet, he crossed the room, dragging the chair with him. Balancing on the rickety metal chair, he took his knife out of the camera and sliced through the wires connected to the bug. Then he quickly cut a stunned Natasha free.

“We only have a few minutes,” Tony said, pulling out a small handgun. (He liked to be prepared).

“Right,” Natasha said, putting aside her questions until after they were out of this mess.

Trying the door handle, Tony discovered it was unlocked. He opened it quickly, holding up his gun and looking down the hallway. It was empty. The two assassins moved in unison down the corridor, Natasha with her dagger and Tony with his gun.

They only ran into one guard before reaching a staircase after a few turns. Strange. But when they got to the door at the top of the stairs, they found it locked.

Tony looked to Natasha, who had taken off her shoe and felt around the inside. “Damn it, they took my lockpicks, and the pins that were in my hair,” she growled. Huh, apparently all assassins were similar, Tony thought as he took off his own shoe and pulled out a compact set of lockpicks.

Natasha just blinked at him. “I’m starting to think this is a dream,” She muttered as she watched _Tony Stark_ picking a lock after getting the both of them out of a kidnapping. Well, partially. “ По крайней мере, это не может стать более странным, чем это. ” [At least it can't get weirder than that.]

“ Fallaces sunt rerum species, ” [The appearances of things are deceptive.] Tony replied, quoting her words from when they had just met. He was having a great time surprising the Black Widow over and over again. “Ah ha! Got the door.”

Tony held up his hand counting down three, two, one with his fingers before opening the door.

Well, they found the guards.

They were in a small warehouse with crates of weapons all around them and about fifteen guards. Natasha took some by surprise and Tony jumped behind a stack of crates. Leaning out of his cover, he shot as many as he could before tossing his empty gun away and joining the fight with Natasha.

Ten minutes and seventeen men on the ground later, Tony walked over to Natasha, who had just stood up.

“La Volpe, at your service,” Tony grinned with a theatrical bow. “I’ll answer any questions I’m sure you have on the walk.” By ‘the walk’ he meant the walk to somewhere they could find people. Wherever they were now, they were surrounded by large warehouses and no one was around.

When they walked outside Tony realized it was around midday. Natasha seemed to be thinking along the same lines as him.

“Clint, and the rest of the team, have no idea where we are,” she said, frowning.

“Y- Bucky too,” Tony murmured, mirroring her expression. “And we can’t even tell them who took us.” The man in grey was nowhere to be found, and there were no logos on anything in the warehouse.

“So. You’re the famed Silver Fox.” Natasha stated, clearly waiting for an explanation. And Tony gave her one.

————————————

By the time the two had reached a civilized town, Tony had told Natasha what she wanted to know. About his upbringing and how he worked as La Volpe _and_ Tony Stark at the same time, but nothing classified (for obvious reasons). When they got to a small diner, her curiosity had been satisfied.

Walking in, a bell rang and a woman called out, “I’ll be with you in a moment!” from the back.

Tony looked around. It was a quaint little town, and the diner looked nice. Hopefully the owner would let them use a phone for free.

A petite woman walked out of the kitchen and came over to them. “Can I help you two?” She asked, looking between them. They probably looked a little beat up, and Tony could feel a bruise blooming on his cheek.

“Do you have a phone we could use, for free?” Natasha asked her politely.

“Sure! I’m Liz, by the way,” the woman chirped. The two assassins didn't offer their names. “Follow me, there’s a phone back here you can use.” Liz led them to the diner’s phone in the kitchen. She probably wasn’t supposed to let them use the phone, but maybe she saw how desperate they were.

“Just call the Tower,” Tony told Natasha. “Someone will pick up.” She dialed the Tower’s number and waited. The woman left them so they could have some privacy in the front of the kitchen.

 _“Hello?”_ Tony heard Clint’s tinny voice over the speaker. _“Who is this?”_

“It’s Natasha. Shush,” she stopped him when he tried to speak. “I’m here with Tony and we don’t know where we are.” Oh. Right, that was something he could’ve asked Liz

 _“Oh my god you’re alright! We had no idea what happened! JARVIS is tracing the call now,”_ Clint told her. _“Okay, he says that you’re in Downey, New Jersey, a little over two hours away. Can you confirm that?”_

Natasha nodded at Tony and he leaned out of the kitchen. “Hey Liz?” he called. She turned around and he continued. “Are we in Downey, New Jersey right now?”

“Yeah… are you two alright?” she asked slowly, glancing past him to look at Natasha.

“Yep, we’re fine. Just got lost, but we have friends picking us up.” He assured her, going back into the kitchen. “Yup, we’re in Downey,” Natasha told Clint, having heard Tony’s conversation.

 _“Just stay where you are. We’ll pick you up as soon as possible,”_ Clint sounded relieved.

“Alright. Hurry up, Tony hasn’t had coffee yet today,” Natasha said, smirking at Tony who just glared at her. She had a point, but that didn’t mean Tony liked it.

After two hours of waiting, in which Liz had taken pity on them and let Tony have free coffee, a sleek black car that Tony recognized pulled up outside.

“I swear, if Clint drove I’m going to…” Tony muttered, but trailed off when Bucky stepped out of the driver’s side door. Hurrying outside, Tony practically jumped on Bucky, who hugged him back tightly.

“I managed to convince Clint to let me drive. You’re welcome,” Bucky joked, blushing at being held by Tony this long. “Does Natalia know?”

“Yeah, but she’s not going to tell anyone, right, Nat?” Tony directed at Natasha, who nodded and raised an eyebrow at Tony. He let go of Bucky, also red-faced. “Let’s go home,”

————————————

Natasha’s POV

During the two hours drive back to the Tower, Natasha had a lot to think about.

Tony was the Fox. He also knew the Winter Soldier, which explained why Tony and James were so close. Tony even let James drive his car, and the only other people he let do that were Happy Hogan and James Rhodes.

She also noticed how Tony and James had both actually _blushed_ , something neither of them did very often. Interesting.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another member of the team finds out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Corvixa kinda gave me the idea for this chapter in a comment on chapter four, so thank you! And I'm sorry this took so long, I just couldn't get happy with it, but here it is.

Clint's POV

Clint paced for a long time before Steve forced him to sit down, but started pacing again as soon as Steve left the room. It had been almost four hours since Tasha had called him and he was getting antsy.

Finally, the elevator door opened and Bucky, Tony, and Tasha walked out, the latter two looking (thankfully) relatively unscathed.

Natasha walked over to Clint who took her outstretched hand. They always did this after an especially stressful mission, or a mission gone wrong, one or both of them wanting reassurance that the other wasn’t going anywhere.

“Did you learn anything about Tony before you, y’know, got kidnapped?” he asked her.

“Ask him yourself,” she replied, and Clint was confused at her vague answer.

Looking around for Tony, Clint noticed that he must have left with Bucky. _Oh well,_ he thought. _I'll have to find them._ So, after reconnecting with Tasha he was off, climbing into the vents in search of the assassin and the mechanic.

————————————

Tony's POV

In the hallway, Bucky asked, “Tony, where are we…” Bucky trailed off as Tony stopped walking and leaned closer to him. Tony smirked as he felt Bucky’s breath speed up. He was standing close enough that he only had to lean in a little more for their lips to touch.

Waiting for just a moment, Tony suddenly leaned away and continued to drag a disoriented Bucky over to his personal elevator.

“JARVIS, take us to a training floor, and make sure no one else is there,” he told the AI before turning to Bucky. “I’ll give you a kiss if you can pin me down, sound fair?” he said sweetly, still with that insufferable smirk on his face.

Bucky pouted, not liking the arrangement. He knew Tony was stronger than him.

Tony got ready to spar as soon as they were on the floor. He knew many fighting styles, but his favorite was Judo, which focused on redirecting momentum and didn’t require height.

Once the two started to spar it was clear that they were almost evenly matched. They moved like a deadly dance, neither gaining the upper hand for a long time, but eventually Tony knocked Bucky flat on his back.

Breathing heavily, because taking down a super-soldier was no mean feat, Tony grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off his face and walked back to Bucky, who was sitting up.

Tony opened his mouth to say something to Bucky, but quickly forgot what it was as he heard an _“Oh shit!”_ and then a loud thump from behind him. Bucky leaned back onto the floor, shaking with laughter, and Tony spun around to see who it was.

Clint. Of course it was Clint. He was in a pile on the floor, and there was an empty hole where one of the large vent coverings on the ceiling used to be. Snickering, Tony walked over to Clint, who was groaning, “I think I sprained something…”

“Yeah, you look like you had a rough landing!” Bucky called over, dissolving into laughter again.

“Can you stand?” Tony asked, narrowing his eyes. “Wait, were you spying on us?”

“I think I did something to my left wrist,” Clint said, avoiding the question.

Tony silently snuck up behind him as he was grabbing a first-aid kit with his right hand and whispered in his ear, “I think you need more than a med kit.”

Clint dropped the kit and shrieked. _“Tony!”_

“Were you?”

“Jeez, don't sneak up on me like that! …I wasn’t exactly _spying_ on you… Tasha wouldn’t tell me anything so I went to find you and then I find you and you’re sparring and _winning_ against the Winter Soldier, so I was kinda -okay, I was very surprised- and then I fell through the ceiling.”

Clint took a moment to breathe, and Bucky muttered, “And it was hilarious watching the bird fall from the sky.” Clint scowled at him and looked down at his left wrist, just now noticing how unnaturally twisted it was.

“Oh, yeah, I should probably go to medical,” Clint said sheepishly and the three started to walk towards the elevator, Clint cradling his wrist. “Also, what the hell, Tony?! What did I just see?” Tony sighed, expecting this. Clint was a spy, so he probably would have found out eventually.

“So, you’ve heard of la Volpe, right?”

“Have I heard of- of course I have! Who do you think I am,-”

“Yeah, that’s me,” Tony interrupted, and Clint stopped moving. Tony calmly continued walking, giving Clint a moment to think about it and process.

“What.”

“Come on, you need to get that wrist to medical. Natasha will think it’s hilarious how you sprained your wrist falling out of a vent,” Tony said, and it seemed to help Clint’s legs work again as he hurried up to Tony and Bucky, cradling his left arm.

Clint said nothing during or after Tony’s brief explanation on the short elevator ride to the medical floor, and Tony was getting a little concerned. He hadn’t expected this reaction.

“Clint?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you alright?” Bucky looked amused as Tony tried to figure out what was wrong with Clint.

“Yep. Just trying to process the fact that I have been friends with my idol for the past few years and I didn’t know.” _His idol?_ Tony thought, and Clint continued rambling. “You’re a legend to spies and assassins everywhere, ‘cause you’re like, the best of us.”

“Uh, thanks…” Tony mumbled, unused to compliments about his skills as la Volpe, considering that no one actually knew, and it was nice. “Oh, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell the others… Natalia already knows, though.” Tony stated, and Clint nodded, still looking a little starstruck.

“Of course, I’m just gonna…” Clint waved his injured arm, then winced. Bad idea. Tony nodded to him as the elevator doors closed.

As soon as they were alone in the elevator, Bucky turned to Tony and smiled sweetly as he asked, “So, can I get that kiss now, doll?” Tony pretended to think about it for a moment, but then leaned closer to Bucky until he was close enough that they shared the same air. Closing the distance between them, Tony softly pressed their lips together for the first time. He had wanted to do this since they met, and it was everything he hoped it would be.

Bucky kissed him deeper and neither man noticed the elevator doors opening onto a different floor.

“Let’s go, lovebirds, Steve wants to debrief Tony and I about our escape.” Natasha said dryly, and Tony and Bucky jumped apart, blushing.

Tony huffed and marched out of the elevator. Bucky made a disgruntled noise but followed Tony out. Before entering the living room where Tony was sure Steve would be, he whispered into Bucky’s ear, “Don’t worry, we can get back to that later,” and Bucky’s face flared up yet again as they walked into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also thought the thing at the beginning with Nat and Clint might make sense for them to do after a lifetime of deception, and especially after Loki.


End file.
